One of my friends told me he doesn’t like to run because it is boring. If you are in the same camp and find it difficult to maintain this healthy habit in your life, I humbly submit this top ten ways to make running more fun and entertaining.
Give each one a try and please report your experience in the Comments below.
10. Put a TV in front of your treadmill and watch adrenaline-inducing shows like Big Ten basketball, 24 and the Flavor of Love.
9. Sign up for a 10K, Half-Marathon or Angry Mob Fun Run and give yourself an exciting event to prepare for.
8. Set your ipod on Shuffle and run to the beat of whatever song comes up. Be sure to add the Ramones, Green Day and Blink-182 to the mix.
7. Make your goals semi-public in Facebook and invite your friends to trash-talk and motivate you.
6. Imagine you are an ancient runner on the plains of Marathon, and if you don’t warn your people in time, the invading army will destroy your city and way of life as you know it. Go nude or toga, whatever is more comfortable for you.
5. Imagine you are a ninja running across the hills of China, and if you don’t warn your people in time, the invading Huns will destroy the Forbidden City and your way of life as you know it. Ninjas only wear black.
4. You know that pile of business and self-development books you’ve been meaning to get to? Buy them on iTunes and listen while you run.
3. Read the book Chi-Running and save your knees like I did.
2. Buy some Body Glide anti-friction balm and use it wherever you need it. Not really fun, but it prevents pain that will ruin your fun. Just keepin’ it real.
And the #1 way to make running more fun is…
1. Run barefoot on a beach in a red speedo. Really, try it.
I use the Nike+ tracking system because it’s fun to get “celebrity feedback” from Lance Armstrong and when I beat a personal best!
John that IS cool. Just looked it up — http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/?sitesrc=uslp
First, on Sunday mornings, I run to breakfast at my favorite cafe. My husband, sister, and brother-in-law meet me there. We have a wonderful breakfast, all the coffee we can drink, and I get a ride home! And the owners of the cafe don’t mind that I show up with no make-up and a bit flushed!
Second, I channel my inner “Doug”. He was the founder of our running club who died unexpectely in June, 2007. He was my boss, friend, mentor, motivator, and the local running guru. He’s always just up ahead on the side of the road yelling at me and cheering me on. 🙂
I love to be bored when running.. that’s the whole point… to get a break from the hustle and the noise of life. You can think about everything or you can think about nothing. If you find running boring then I challenge you to try some trail runs. You can’t possibly be bored when you’re in the woods on a single track trail. How do I make running more fun? I sing to myself… my favorites “hot blooded” and “hot legs”. I also find it’s much more fun to run behind cute guys. Yep, that’s the secret for me.
Amen, sister. For me the run is the entertainment. And few things are more entertaining than flying down a narrow trail. Talk about being “in the moment”, if your mind wanders too far off of that trail for too long, it’ll be brought back to it as soon as you hook a root.
David –
I think you would enjoy my friend Doug’s blog. He’s running every single day this year. It makes me nervous to even type that!
http://dougrun365.blogspot.com/